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'Boss' for Starz, extended new trailer and key art

By April MacIntyre Sep 6, 2011, 19:03 GMT

06/12/2011 - Kelsey Grammer and Kayte Walsh - 65th Annual Tony Awards - Arrivals - Beacon Theatre - New York City, NY, USA © Wild1 / PR Photos

One of the better new dramas this fall season is "Boss', starring Kelsey Grammer.

Starz is home the the series, as Grammer is cast as a physically flawed Machiavellian fictional Chicago mayor Tom Kane.

Kane has a degenerative neurological disorder that he hides, along with a seedy underside that has the mayor complicit in dirty political deeds.

There's lots of sex and nudity, especially with Kitty, played by actress Kathleen Robertson, so this isn't a PG "Frasier" smallscreen affair for the family.

Premiering Friday, October 21st at 10pm on STARZ, "Boss" is Kelsey’s first starring role in a dramatic series and also features Connie Nielsen, Troy Garity, Hannah Ware, Jeff Hephner and Kathleen Robertson. Created by Farhad Safinia, the first episode was directed by acclaimed film maker Gus Van Sant.

Premise from Starz

Mayor Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) sits like a spider at the center of Chicago’s web of power; a web built on a covenant with the people. They want to be led, they want disputes settled, jobs dispensed, and loyalties rewarded. If he achieves all this through deception and immorality, so be it. As long as he gets the job done, they look the other way.

Yet despite being the most effective mayor in recent history, a degenerative brain disorder is ripping everything away from him. He can’t trust his memory, his closest allies, or even himself.

Kane’s wife Meredith (Connie Nielsen) knows nothing. Theirs is a marriage of convenience. Kitty O’Neil (Kathleen Robertson), Kane’s political aide, has her suspicions but stays silent. Kane’s chief of staff,  Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan), has no illusions about the stakes involved and doesn’t ask questions.  And State Treasurer Ben Zajac (Jeff Hephner) is too concerned with his own political ambitions to notice anything unusual.

Only Emma (Hannah Ware), Kane’s estranged daughter, has a chance of learning his secret. This is going to be the toughest term yet for the Boss.